Fun at the Fair

I would just like to preface this Blog Post by stating I am absolutely exhausted from my day at the Craft Fair, so please excuse any and all spelling and grammar mistakes, and if anything doesn't make sense (as it has come out of my jumbled mind) just ask and I will explain.  :o)

So my day started early.  The Fair opened at 10am, but Ross & MIL were going to the Farmers Market at the other end of the Show Grounds, so they dropped me off early.  I sat and waited... :o)  I jumped in the queue about 9.45 and waited.  About 10 minutes later a whole heap of the stall holders came out and lined themselves up along the line.  The Macarena started playing and they were off. They then pulled people up from the crowd and got everyone joining in. It was a fun (and funny) way to start the day!

10am and in we go.  My plan was to get the lay of the land so I could earmark the places I wanted to go back to. I had one job to do for MIL, who wanted me to go to the $3.50 FQ stall to get a fabric to match a flower scrap she had given me.  I found that fairly quickly and there was no one else around, so I ducked over and got her fabric.  I also got a few for myself for the next hand piecing project I am planning.

At 10.30 I had my first workshop. It was on Jelly Rolls and Bali Pops.  I really enjoyed it, got a lot of great ideas and jotted down some notes.  After the workshop I went and got a book of patterns and some great Jelly Roll Templates.

From there I found Mum and her friend and we sat down for a coffee.  After the pit stop, which included Show & Tell, we headed our separate ways again.  I prefer to do the Fairs mostly alone, as then I can go where I want when I want. I wandered for over an hour and bought a pattern (the one in the middle which is a little mail folder, very cute) and some water soluble markers.  The picture here also shows 2 patterns I bought later and some little scissors Mum got for me.

I ran into Mum again just before lunch and she got me this Better Homes & Gardens Show Bag which was filled with lots of lovely little bits and pieces.

Sitting down for lunch was a lovely relief to get off the feet, and we did another Show & Tell of all the things we had bought since morning tea.  :o)

After lunch I headed off to my next workshop, which was on raw edge appliqué.  Some really interesting stuff in this one, but it is very complicated as well.  Not sure if I will be trying this any time soon.  It was great to go and see though.  After that I went to the Quilt Show that was there.  OMG, there were some absolutely amazing quilts.  Stunning in fact.  One of them I fell in love with.  I have photos but I am not allowed to put them on the internet so I can not share them unfortunately.  The lady who made it was there giving a little demonstration.  I chatted to her for ages.  I then ran into Mum again and found out she knows her, they are in the same guild.  So Mum introduced me and she is going to give Mum some bits and pieces so I can learn her techniques.

I had another wander, but didn't find anything else that was jumping out at me.  I was actually looking for some sort of stitchery Block of The Month type project, but none were leaping out at me.  There is one coming up next year at the place where I do my Wednesday Sit & Sew, and I think I will do that one.  Nothing else I saw even came close to how lovely this one was, so I will wait.  :o)

Caught up with Mum & Edna again for another coffee.  Then the 3 of us went to a few stalls together.  We went to the Janome stand to have a look at the machine I am saving up for as Mum wanted to make sure it had a few things she thinks I need - it does.  We also went to have look at a pattern I was thinking of getting. Mum ended up getting it for me (the one on the left in the picture above).  It is a round quilted basket, which will be perfect for taking my stitching to class in.

After a few more stops for Mum & Edna we decided to head off.  We went outside and went our separate ways.  A few minutes down the road and I decided I did want the little light I had been looking at after all, so I turned around and went back.  :o)

It clips onto your embroidery frame and directs a really lovely light directly on to your project. I also decided to pick up these few stitchery's.

Like I said before, I am going to do a Block of the Month of stitchery's.  But it has been about 25 years since I have done any embroidery (yes I was a young teenager then).  So I got these little ones (they were 3 for $10) to practice on. The last thing I grabbed was another pattern (the one on the right above).  It is actually for a book bag, but it is the perfect size for my little Netbook.  Most lap top bags for for the regular sized laptops.  Mine is so much smaller than those one (it's one of the little EeePC's).  So this is absolutely perfect.

Then I was done.  Money pretty much gone, legs and feet killing me.  I rang Ross who had been at a Knife Show for the afternoon to see where he was, but he was nowhere near me, so I trudged to the Tram stop and waited for the tram.  As soon as I got home I showed my MIL my haul - she was very impressed - and now I am sitting here ready for sleep... LOL

I had a brilliant day, and can't wait to get stuck into all my new projects.

xox